ESRA is a magazine in English that acts as an informative and entertaining companion and guide to life in Israel. It enriches the lives of English speakers, helping their absorption into Israeli society and
encouraging their involvement in the
community

ESRA’s visit to Yad Vashem focused on the Museummore ... of Holocaust Art – art works that had been done by prisoners and hidden during the Holocaust. Also visited were the gardens dedicated to the Righteous among the Nations.
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Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek was founded in the 1920’smore ... in the Jezreel Valley. A museum of the Kibbutz history is now housed in a building that was originally a guard post. It includes documents about the 8-day attack by Arabs in 1948.
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Living works of art describes the compositions thatmore ... Peter Viner creates in the Jezreel Valley. Using different grains, his designs have been seen by thousands of visitors who look down on his creations from the top of Mt Gilboa.
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Before coming to live in Israel in the 1940’s Gideonmore ... Schwigar learnt shoemaking. Starting out by repairing shoes and then making sandals for children this developed into TEVA Neot. In 1949 it moved to Kibbutz Naot Mordechai in the Galillee. Fashion, comfort and quality is their trademark and much of its produce is sold abroad.
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The Jordan Valley is in the Afro Syrian Rift and runsmore ... from Beit Shean to Jericho. Using biblical, geographical and historic references, this article talks about what has been achieved in the area despite agricultural problems.
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Brian Braude describes a visit to Peru, a country ofmore ... grandeur and tranquility. Starting in Lima and mainly travelling by bus they visited interesting places the highlight being Machu Picchu – the fairy tale city on the Inca trail.
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IBCA was established in 1949 to maintain contacts andmore ... develop trade relations between Israel, Britain and the Commonwealth. Meetings involving politicians, academics and the diplomatic corps take place regularly, and an annual dinner is held with a distinguished speaker.
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Educator, scholar, writer and translator, Israeli bornmore ... Shin Shifra, feels that Israel, as part of the Middle East, must not forget the influences from our ancient civilizations. We must not stereotype ourselves and our country but must share our cultural roots.
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In the 1970’s Ruth Resnick was one of the foundersmore ... of the feminist and civil rights movements.She is most well known for establishing shelters for battered women and for having laws introduced to protect women and children from domestic violence.
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Are you often looking for new ideas for gifts? Howmore ... about a miniature – hand made, to one twelfth inch scale? A model where everything is a perfect replica. Small rooms, shops and gardens are popular themes.
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After much deliberation Gloria Deutsch decided to changemore ... her worn out, real grass lawn for synthetic grass. She is thrilled with the result – constant greenness to look at, and water saved.
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ISSUE 149 - April-May 2009

FROM THE EDITOR

Every year new Haggadas are added to the vast and rich variety of Pesach Haggadas which have come into being over hundreds of years till present times. This year we feature on our cover and on page 24 beautiful illustrations drawn by autistic artists of the new Alut Haggadah, and an illustration adapted from the Amsterdam Haggadah (22).
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On the Esra scene, we invite you to submit candidates, yourself or other persons, for election of all members for our Esra executive and to join us at our annual general meeting (9). Mindful of the need to develop new leadership to ensure the continuity of effective running of a productive and vibrant organization, Esra held a course for future leaders (90) and a film-making course to train volunteers for our Esravision program (63). Ashkelon is the latest Esra branch and true to tradition is working for the community (88). And our cinema club recently opened in Netanya (63).
Holocaust Memorial Day falls on April 21 and in our Holocaust column you can read about Defiance, a film of three young brothers who rescued 1,200 Jews from ghettos (12); a brief episode in the life of a fighter of the Jewish Brigade (16) and calls to former ghetto workers and Holocaust survivors (17).
Israel’s 60th terminates on Independence Day 2009 and for the past year we have been bringing memories of English speakers of their experiences in the founding years of Israel. In this issue we bring you the story of Mishmar HaEmek (18) and how a farmer depicted 60 years (21). Israel’s products continue to flourish: shoes (26), 40 years of Jordan settlement (28) and innovative methods to control pests in organic farming (30). “Israel and I” features articles on what Israel means to people. This time we interview a major Hebrew poet and novelist, who is a passionate “child of Israel” and views Israel as belonging to the region of Mesopotamia (58).
Ever mindful of the problems of persons with handicaps, you can read about Esra’s support group for ADHD adults (70) and a cry for equal accessibility for all (72).
Happy Pesach.
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